Thirty-two years ago, when an innovative Albuquerque police officer offered a reward and the promise of anonymity for any person who could provide information to help solve a local murder, Crimestoppers was born.

The non-profit, citizen-run organization spread quickly throughout the country and beyond the borders of the United States. Today, there are Crimestoppers organizations in all 50 states and in nearly 25 countries throughout the world.

The Greater New Orleans Crimestoppers was formed in 1981, serving Orleans, Jefferson, St. Tammany, St. Bernard, St. John the Baptish, St. Charles, Plaquemines, and St. James parishes. In 26 years, the organization has helped solve more than 9,500 felony crimes and paid out more than $1,400,000 in cash rewards.

Crimestoppers is a non-profit organization. Our primary goal is to provide citizens with a way to assist law enforcement to apprehend criminals and to make our community a safer place to live.

Crimestoppers is run by civilians, not law enforcement. When you call Crimestoppers, you never fill out a police report or testify in court. We work closely with law enforcement by passing on information callers give us through the tipline. But Crimestoppers itself does not investigate crimes and does not prosecute criminals.

We are the connection between community residents who want to fight against crime without having their identity revealed, and law enforcement, which needs community cooperation to effectively prosecute criminals and stop crime.

The process of calling Crimestoppers is simple. You call 822-1111, which puts you in contact with the Crimestoppers command center. An operator will answer the phone and take down the information you wish to provide about a crime. He or she will never ask for your name, number, address, or any other identifying information.

You can also give us a tip online, at www.crimestoppersgno.org.

Once you give us information, you will be assigned a code number, which is the only method Crimestoppers has of identifying you. You must remember this number, and provide it to a Crimestoppers operator when you call back to check on the status of the information you have given. You must call Crimestoppers. We cannot call you, because we never ask for your phone number.

In the meantime, we pass your information on to the appropriate law enforcement agency, which takes action based on your information and reports back to us on whether it led to the solving or prevention of a crime.

When you call us back and give us your code number, we check with law enforcement to see whether your information was useful. If it was, you receive a cash reward.

To receive that reward, we instruct you to come to a public place at a specified time and date, where a Crimestoppers volunteer will meet you. Rewards are paid out in cash, no matter what the amount.

The promise of anonymity for callers is Crimestoppers most powerful weapon in the fight against crime. We do not have caller ID. We do not use *67. We do not record phone calls. Not ever. Information given to Crimestoppers is protected under Louisiana’s Privileged Information statue R.S. 15. 477.1.

Flow chart explaining the process: You call 822-1111 to give information concerning a crime --- Crimestoppers takes this information and assigns you a special tip number --- Crimestoppers passes your information on to the appropriate law enforcement agency --- You call the Crimestoppers office to check on the status of your case --- If your information leads to the solving or prevention of a crime, you are paid a cash reward in a public place by a Crimestoppers citizen volunteer.

Crimestoppers International Web site: http://www.c-s-i.org/

Greater New Orleans Crimestoppers Web site: http://www.crimestoppersgno.org